Midlands Prisoners build swift houses

Midlands Prisoners are helping some free birds by constructing bird boxes as part of a BirdWatch Ireland project.

An Irish Prison Service spokesman explained that:  “The Swift Boxes Project started in early 2020, when Arbour Hill Prison received a request from BirdWatch Ireland to construct 30 swift boxes. 

The Work and Training Officer in Arbour Hill Prison liaised with their counterpart in the Midlands Prison and agreed to construct some of the swift boxes for Bird Watch Ireland. The specification of the swift boxes were requested from BirdWatch Ireland and the Midlands Prison initially agreed to make five boxes.”

Project Officer with Birdwatch Ireland, Laois’s Ricky Whelan recently collected the first batch of boxes from the  Midlands Prison. He took to Twitter to compliment the prisoners for the ‘Zeist’ style nestboxes. He noted the “excellent workmanship” and said he would definitely be back for more. “Thanks to prisoners involved and all at @IrishPrisons for doing their bit to help breeding Swifts in the midlands,” he stated.